The holidays are upon us, and that can often mean spending quality time with extended family and friends. But there really are only so many snowpeople you can build and cups of egg nog you can drink (i.e. one) before you’re out of things to do together.

Fortunately, there’s a great selection of video games to pick from in 2016 that actually bring family and friends closer together – specifically on the trusty old sofa. The recent crop of couch co-op titles might even be enough to interest the gaming skeptics in your family. Here are some great cooperative activities for the whole clan that don’t involve fighting each other or eating too much starch.

(Please visit the site to view this media)OvercookedPlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC1-4 players

Graphics have always been an immediate selling point for all video games, and sports titles in particular. They are an accessible entry point getting you to stop and exclaim, "I thought I was watching a real broadcast!" The advantages of a certain versamillitude are obvious, and I definitely like what great graphics do for sports titles. But is there a cost to this? And what is it getting us in the current sports games?

I was thinking about the recent HDR upgrade improvements highlighted by Gran Turismo developer Polyphony Digital for GT Sport. I'm sure that the game will look gorgeous like its predecessors in the franchise, a tennent of the series that has served it well. Pulling back, however: Is chasing jaw-dropping graphics starting to offer diminished returns for Gran Turismo?

When so much of Polyphony's time is spent on this component of the game when its online infrastructure has lagged behind other titles in and out of the genre, and fans have been asking questions of the game's A.I. and feature set, it bears asking if the developer could advance the series in other, nonvisual ways.

Arkane Studios new sci-fi first-person shooter looks to take players to an alien-infested space station called Talos I and set them loose with a wide variety of physics-defying powers. We've already given you a look into the game's development with an interview with team, provided a deep dive into the new Typhon alien menace, and even looked a some of the things we still don't know about the game. But pictures are worth a thousand words, so here are a few exclusive Prey screens along with some details you might have missed.

Click on each image to expand their size.

Players awake aboard a huge space station called Talos I, which is owned by a mega corporation called TranStar. The company reopened the space station in the hopes of farming the mysterious aliens known as Typhons for their genetic abilities. The facility is roughly the size of the Empire State Building, and outfitted with all the luxuries money can buy.

Released in North America in 2000, The Legend of Dragoon was in some ways a response from Sony to fill the PlayStation's library with more games like Final Fantasy VII. It is a big budget RPG with impressive pre-rendered cutscenes, and while it certainly looked to Square's PlayStation efforts for inspiration, it has an identity all its own. It never had the opportunity to broadened its universe with a sequel, but it has a following of devoted fans. I've heard it be called a favorite game of all time on more than one occasion.

Today Andrew Reiner and Brian Shea try to convince a very, very skeptical Kyle Hilliard that he should really gave this game a shot.

Game of the Year awards almost seemed myopic for The Last of Us when it was released in 2013. It topped plenty of lists that year, but its impact outlasted its flood of accolades. Strategic, survival-based combat, believable characters, and a unique multiplayer mode gave The Last of Us its initial praise, but the unforgettable ending kept discussion surrounding the game alive. Because of this strong finale, manysites – including Game Informer – have suggested that The Last of Us shouldn’t get a sequel. Naughty Dog went against that sentiment by announcing The Last of Us Part II at the PlayStation Experience this year, to high praise and skepticism. Those on both sides have valid arguments concerning the sequel’s existence. But I’m confident in The Last of Us Part II because Naughty Dog has displayed a history knowing how and when to tell a story and when to let one be.

Naughty Dog themselves have even been open about its thoughts toward a sequel – hesitation and all – giving it a “50/50” shot in February 2014 and admitting to “almost giving up” in a recent PlayStation Blog post. But the studio decided to move forward on the project in earnest once they thought of a story that “felt special.”

The tabletop role-playing world has seen tremendous growth and expansion in recent years, as new creative voices and innovative settings have gained steam. One of the most popular games on the scene is Pathfinder; Paizo’s evolution beyond Dungeons & Dragons’ 3.5 edition has been a mainstay of the RPG gaming landscape for years now. After years of shaping and growing Pathfinder, Paizo is releasing a brand-new RPG in 2017; Starfinder exists in the same universe as Pathfinder, but the setting leaps forward thousands of years, and presents a universe where technology and magic live side-by-side, and brave adventurers chart the paths between planets.

I had a chance for an extensive conversation with Starfinder’s creative director, James Sutter, who filled me in on the ambitious plans for the game and setting. We covered a wealth of topics, and as a fan of Paizo’s work myself, I know that other enthusiasts are eager to hear every tidbit they can about this upcoming project. With that in mind, I’m sharing the entirety of our lengthy conversation, which includes an exclusive look at one of Starfinder’s iconic characters, an exhaustive conversation about the setting, the system’s approach to magic and space combat, and even what we can expect out of the Starfinder Core Rulebook when it releases in August of 2017.

Setting matters. With few exceptions, the most memorable contemporary games are set in interesting locations with their own sense of history. Would BioShock have worked if Rapture hadn’t been so exquisitely crafted? The Elders Scrolls games have each built rich and lore-filled worlds that flesh out the day-to-day lives of its inhabitants. And even if we wouldn’t want to live there, Grand Theft Auto V’s Los Santos presents a vision of a west-coast city/nightmare that’s oftentimes uncomfortably close to reality. Arkane Studios’ upcoming sci-fi game Prey features a meticulously designed and researched space station, Talos I, which provides a plausible backdrop for a bizarre new threat.

Now is your chance to sound off on your favorite games of 2016. Vote for your favorite games, and do your part to make sure they make our Reader Games of the Year section in our upcoming issue.

This year, the video game industry delivered some phenomenal titles. From fantastic releases that kept players coming back for more, to polished, incredible adventures that will stick with us for the rest of our gaming lives, 2016 delivered an outstanding line-up of games. With so many great games hitting this year, coming up with our list of the Top 50 Games of 2016 was tougher than any year in recent memory, and no game is guaranteed any award, so be sure to vote to ensure that your favorite releases are represented in our results!

You may notice that some obvious picks aren't on the list. That could be because of our eligibility requirements. We only include final games, which means that Steam early access titles and beta games aren't eligible. In addition, remasters are restricted to that category. If a game is episodic, but the final episode hasn't released in 2016, that also keeps it off our list for this year.

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Jun 7, 2017Updates and bug fixes OTW.

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Jun 7, 2017Updates and bug fixes OTW.

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